Arsenal boss Unai Emery has revealed that one of his departures this summer was not a decision he wanted to make, prior to the transfer move being ahead of the deadline.

The Gunners boss saw his two main strikers -Lacazette and Aubameyang – often find the back of net last season, but Emery’s side was still missing a bit of quality off the bench on several occasions.

That meant Eddie Nketiah was able to receive some playing time for the first team as he continued his progress at the club after breaking into the senior side towards the end of Arsene Wenger’s reign.

The young attacker looked impressive on the few occasions he was called upon by Emery and it certainly came as a bit of a surprise as the club agreed a deal for him to join Leeds United on loan right before the transfer window was closed.

Nketiah has already managed to score after making his debut for Leeds recently and speaking about the youngster’s loan move, Emery has revealed how the decision for him to exit temporarily was made.

The Arsenal boss has confirmed that his initial decision was to not let the 20-year-old leave.

“My first decision was not to let him leave,” Emery said – via Football.London. “But after he spoke with me and [considering] the possibility of how many matches he is going to play with us, I said to him I could give him a lot of minutes this year but maybe he can improve more playing regularly 90 minutes each Sunday with Leeds.

“Our objective with him is: ‘play and come back here, we want to be with you in the future.’ It’s the same with other young players.”

Be the first to receive breaking news about Arsenal!